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ICAO Reaffirms Commitments to Reduce Emissions from Aviation

21 December 2009: The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has announced its intention to continue plans for reducing aviation emissions despite the lack of an agreement on bunker fuels at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 2009.

Noting that the International Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report projects that growing demand for air transport could soon surpass the ability to limit aviation's impact on climate change, ICAO Council President Roberto Kobeh González has announced that ICAO is beginning work with its 190 member States to implement plans laid out in October 2009 to reduce global aviation emissions. The October 2009 agreement is, to date, the only global initiative to curb the emissions of a specific sector, and includes the goal of 2% annual emissions reductions until 2050; the institution of global carbon dioxide aircraft standards; and facilitation of technology transfer and financial assistance to achieve these aims.

Also to this end, implementation discussions will take place at the eighth meeting of ICAO's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection in February 2010, and in September- October 2010 a full review of ICAO environmental policies and programmes has been scheduled.[ICAO Press Release]